WHY STROUD....?

Why Stroud? This will be my introduction to why the Stroud Valleys could now lead as a truly dynamic force in the pursuit of local food, local currency, the arts, local crafts etc IN DRAFT

Why did they laugh ?

Created and consumed in Wales, with a layer of mystery! Please enjoy this overly poetic recipe that makes people laugh - perhaps it's the way its performed!?....

So off I cycled last Saturday to an intimate, fun and lovely Stroud Supper Party with these bards, musicians and an author called Drugs Czar reading from his book - who was limping from playing Rugby for The W.A. against the House of Lords!

So wrote this to be a Bard for the night, titled:

Layer upon Layer

Yet to be savored
Unmade, a hot vessel will gift shape
Each layer shall float aloof
Formed by lift and separation
This mystery adds its name

Clear, finger high, a layer now cooks within
Chopped, olive oiled, salt and peppered but not aloof
Coloured hot the vegetables are put aside
Moons torn asunder to be made invisible
Our mystery fills the bottom fed
A hot layer now returned does rest aloft

The fat yellow flow is born of valley found eggs, milk, olive oil & pesta
To lap, crest and crust the roast vegetables
Return to heat as round shapes must be sliced

Clear, see a hot layer of shapes neatly sealed
Now add a third torn layer to go unseen
The mushroom and tomato slices make up a last
A second richer fatter frothy yellow fills the void to paint each slice

Cooked through, risen and browning, dish meets dish
Behold fajita, terrine? No, a new Welsh dish Crumpet Bottom!

Stroudy

PS: The Welsh Crumpet is less than 1% fat - so they tell me, what do you think ..?

You have to admit that the crumpet pieces are not noticed, yet create each layer...

Next mystery poetic installment Tarte Tomate - IF I HAVE TOO!

Soon We Will War for Water

'
The Fifth World Water Forum began this week in Istanbul. 97.5 percent of the worlds water stays in our oceans, a further 1.75 percent makes-up the polar icecaps which are melting and raising sea levels to gradually claim homelands and inundate fresh water aquifers. Global Warming will dry out rainforest's, rivers and make huge areas arid, speeding desertification. 70 percent of all groundwater and freshwater supplies are used for irrigation. So little or no freshwater will satisfy the thirst of the forecast nine billion world population in 2050 – some five billion people will likely struggle and war for water!

The week-long forum is held every three years and will discuss the future of the 'commodity' that is so much more vital than oil or gas, gold or diamonds. The forum theme this year is 'Bridging Divides for Water'. It will address global change and the protection of water resources.

The conference is expected to produce a joint declaration, The Istanbul Consensus which will try to settle the simple question: is water a 'commodity' that profit-oriented private concerns can trade in, or a human right to be guaranteed by public institutions? Who owns it? Who should manage it?

Groups are planning anti-Forum demonstrations and will likely riot against Turkish security forces. Tens of thousands marched in protest against the fourth WWF in Mexico City three years ago.

The Forum will seek to be green, in line with recommendations of the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona in October last year. Delegates are advised to travel by train, boat or bus for short distances, use recyclable water bottles, go for electronic documents rather than printed ones, use both sides of paper, lower the thermostat in hotel rooms, turn off the tap when brushing teeth, take showers rather than baths, asks that towels and bedding not be changed every day, and use stairs rather than elevators.

Organisers have committed to planting a tree for each of the 20,000 participants. Trees need water, don't they?!

Save The Vulcan....

'
God have mercy....save the Vulcan, this is the campaign to save the oldest pub in Cardiff that is now before The Welsh Assembly. Well, perhaps our prayers have been answered....

A sound commercial and startlingly imaginative architectural engineering solution for the Vulcan is being mooted for arbitration by the Assembly.

The suggestion is to incorporate the Vulcan frontage into the new 20 storey building, but one floor up!

This would create huge visual impact! Whilst allowing the Vulcan public and service areas, plus current fittings, to be built into the building and remain the pub we love!

Everybody gains, nobody loses and Cardiff has an extraordinary architectural art piece - sorry no artists impression?

I contacted Rachel Thomas of the campaign via facebook, who confirmed that: The Vulcan must stay where it is and that there is no reason at all why the developers can't incorporate it into their plans!

Mercy indeed, with the miracle of a floating Vulcan over the streets of Cardiff

Stroudy visits the Vulcan, Cardiff

PS: I had meant to post this on the first of April....

stroudyrant.blogspot.com

Our Real World Leaders are Al Gore & Prince Charles

'
An Inconvenient Truth, the must see climate change documentary by former US Vice President Al Gore, has opened across the UK. It looks at scientific evidence on the causes and likely impacts of a warming world and at climate change politics.

Al Gore says he wants to make ordinary people aware of the "terrifying" reality of climate change, and demand action from their political leaders.

More than two million people have seen it since its US release 16 weeks ago.

The UK release comes in a week which has seen scientists release evidence that: Old Arctic ice may be melting spectacularly fast; humanity's greenhouse gas emissions are probably stoking the power of hurricanes; Observed temperature rise cannot be explained directly by changes in the Sun's output.

Al Gore tried when Vice-President to act on Climate Change, and whatever failures that occurred were not for lack of his efforts, Al faced incredible resistance and denial by anal business interests, which is why he decided to reach out directly to the public, making this presentation more than 1,000 times, plus the movie and the book, in the hope that we the public will demand that political leaders stop paying it lip service and act!

Politicians act? Wishful thinking Al....!

He discusses the death of his sister from lung cancer, comparing the stance of tobacco companies then with the stance of oil, coal and car companies today. He cites cases of scientists who, he says, have been persecuted, even hounded from their jobs, because they have raised the "truth" about Climate Change - from which the movie gets its title.

In the US, An Inconvenient Truth has become the third highest grossing documentary of all time, returning more than $23m.

Environmental groups hope it will receive similar attention in Britain. "It's a cliche to say a book or film will change your life, but this film is truly inspirational," said Ashok Sinha, director of Stop Climate Chaos, an umbrella organisation for campaigning groups.

"It's brilliantly clear both on the science and the gravity of where the policy of business as usual has got us today, and where it will lead if we don't start taking personal and political action now."

The United States of America Senate and its Spineless Senators will soon rubber stamp the end of our World and our progeny!

'
As Lee Iacocca asks, so does the Huffington Post today, "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?". We may pine or scream for enlightened leadership, but it is not likely to be bestowed as a gift on a politician..... Al Gore? Prince Charles?

Can we really expect politicians to face up to the challenge posed by climate change -- and it is, literally, apocalyptic -- for them to acknowledge that forestalling global warming must become the organizing principle of society?!

We're a long way from that recognition and orientation. The only way we are going to get there is for those willing to look honestly at the situation to build a powerful movement. It must be broad, and it must very aggressively demand change. There is a role in this for celebrities and concerts. But there is a crying need too for people who insist on shaking things up.

That movement has been slow in coming, but it is just possible to see the beginning signs that it may be starting to crystallize. (Yes, all those qualifiers are necessary.) A very important early manifestation of what may be a new movement is the call for a No War, No Warming mobilization in Washington, DC, from October 21 to 23.

Details of the protest activity are just starting to be worked out, so stay tuned for more. But while all efforts have to made to block the lunacy now on display in the Congress and to achieve some incremental gains for renewable energy and efficiency (getting started sooner will make the hard work to come much easier), the real leadership on this issue will not be found on Capitol Hill. The leadership is going to come from the streets.

So the Democratic controlled Congress is considering an energy bill. The likely outputs are pretty grim. Coal state members of Congress are pushing for coal-to-liquid projects that might help move in the direction of "energy independence" for the United States, but will make global warming worse. Senators from Michigan are set to gut efforts to increase auto fuel efficiency standards.

It is completely reasonable and critically important to denounce these maneuvers, which suggest that the Democratic controlled Congress is on course to do little or no more to alleviate global warming than its Republican predecessors.

It is also hard to avoid complaining about the spinelessness of the Democrats, but there is another, more important way to look at the present energy bill mess. And that is to acknowledge that members of Congress have no morality and care nothing for their progeny, so respond to powerful constituencies -- most importantly the polluters' lobby, but not just big corporations. The unions in these sectors are supporting retrograde positions, which is reflective of their short-term and misguided calculations about jobs and members' well-being.

The Nordic Diet may be history to our progeny as will much of the Mediterranean peoples homelands!

An article in the Telegraph compares the traditional Nordic Diet to be as good or better than the Mediterranean Diet! This is good for us Today, climate change will mean Southern Europe will be arid with desert encroaching on homelands and the traditional Nordic Diet might just lack the Riendeer and so much more.....Yet, the change in the Gulf Stream may make it colder and more relevant to what is left of Britain.

So lets ponder the diversity and difference in two of the Worlds healthiest diets, whilst considering that it will be Global Warming that will be the decisive factor in if Northern Europe will be eating a Nordic or Mediterranean diet - when Europe gets hotter, homelands become lost and the World sinks towards unimaginable anarchy...

Research by Elling Bere from the University of Agder, Norway, has shown that native berries from northern Europe such as blueberries, cowberries and cloudberries contain as much unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids as fish per unit Scientists at the University of Copenhagen, in Denmark, have set up a EURO 13.3 million (£12.2 million) project aimed at identifying and testing more products from the region that can fit into the "New Nordic Diet". They also plan to carry out trials with schoolchildren to see how the diet can help improve their health.

Professor Arne Astrup, president of the International Association for the Study of Obesity and head of the department of human nutrition at Copenhagen University, is leading the project.

He said: "The plan is to develop a counterpart to the Mediterranean diet that is superior in terms of health effects and palatability."

In Finland, around 23 per cent of people are obese; in Sweden, the figure is as low as 10 per cent; but in the UK, the number is around 25 per cent.

They also found that they were rich in antioxidants, which are known to reduce the levels of harmful molecules in cells that can build up over time and cause damage, leading to diseases such as heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Rapeseed oil has been found to be a good alternative to olive oil, containing more omega-3 fatty acids and being a good source of vitamin E. Cabbage and other brassica species such a kale and Brussels sprouts, which tend to thrive in cold-weather conditions, have been found by scientists at the University of Oslo to contain some of the highest levels of antioxidants of any vegetable and are a good source of vitamin K, which plays a role in blood coagulation. I highly recommend Hillfarm extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil from Sussex and Sainsburys!

Traditional Nordic diets have also been high in fish, as in the Mediterranean, with particular preference for salmon, trout, cod and herring - cold water fishes that will decline too in warmer fisheries.

Prof Astrup also believes that game meat from animals such as elk and reindeer, and birds such as grouse, should also form a greater part of people's diets as these meats tends to be leaner than farm-reared livestock - rabbit too!

Dr Joan Ransley, a lecturer in nutritional Epidemiology at Leeds University, said: "In northern climates it is difficult to adopt Mediterranean diet simply because the ingredients like peppers and tomatoes don't grow in colder climates and the growing season is so much shorter - Your ignoring the future and climate change, will these even leave us any choice in foods Dr. Ransley?

"If they can present these traditional foods in an attractive way it could be great."

Trina Hahnemann, a Danish chef who recently published The Scandinavian Cookbook, added that in many parts of Scandinavia and Britain, traditional diets had been abandoned in favour of foods from Italy and Spain.

She said: "I think that people have lost their food culture and forgotten about how foods suited to northern climates can be healthy. In Britain you have a lot of kale, but almost no one realises that you can eat it raw like lettuce and it is very nutritious."

The popularity of the Mediterranean diet stems from data showing that people living in countries bordering the Mediterranean have lower levels of cardiovascular disease, obesity and certain types of cancer.

Regional eating habits include consuming large amounts of vegetables, nuts, bread and fish, which make the Mediterranean diet very low in saturated fats, which typically come from meat.

The Mediterranean diet – one of the leading eating plans for the past 20 years – is facing competition from the "Nordic diet", which, scientists are finding, could be significantly healthier.

The findings have generated excitement among many nutrition experts in the United Kingdom as the British climate is more suited to producing the kinds of foods found in Scandinavia than it is to growing the sun-ripened foods of the Mediterranean.

Nutritionists in the UK have, consequently, pushed the vegetable and olive oil-rich diet as a way of combating Britain's appalling public health record, and in Scotland the Government funded intensive research into the effectiveness of the diet - If you allow nutritionally impoverished processed foods made to taste acceptable with additives, flavours, simple sugars and salt this grossly expensive health problem is bound to happen? Should we call these industrial products foods or poisons?